GHD’s gorgeous Platinum+ offers snag-free styling that adapts to your individual technique and lessens the damage that can be caused to hair by excessive heat styling and straightening.

The Platinum+ straightener’s ‘ultra-zone’ predictive tech intelligently adapts to your styling technique, adjusting the power to ensure an optimum temperature at all times for healthier hair and faster, better results. This is single-stroke styling at its best, suitable for all hair types.

You’ll find improved styling in a shorter space of time, and results that last much longer. The Platinum+ is expensive, but worth every penny.

The Dyson Corrale’s claim is that its technology reduces heat damage. But the real reason to buy it is its incredible build quality. It’s a beautifully made styling tool, with loads of great features.

It can be used corded or cordless (where it has up to half an hour of charge), it has three temperature settings and its flexible plates also have ionic smoothing technology. It works quickly and effectively.

However, the brilliant engineering comes at a cost beyond the actual (and very high) price of this straightener. The Corrale is heavy and chunky and for some people, that will – very literally – outweigh the advantages of cordless straightening. This also makes it slightly less travel-friendly, in spite of the attractive travel pouch it comes with and the flight tag it’s equipped with.

This compact straightener is lightweight at just 304g but it packs a punch in terms of power, giving you one-pass straightening. It’s incredibly impressive for its size. It also looks good, and comes in a choice of black or white, with nice details like chrome accents and white LED indicators.

In the box is a heatproof, zip-up travel case, USB-C lead and plug adaptor, so you can charge it via or USB or at a standard plug point. The tiny lead can fit into the travel case with the straightener, so if you’re travelling with a plug adaptor with USB slots to charge other tech, you won’t need to pack the dedicated plug adapter at all, making it a great option for travelling light.

It’ll give you 20 minutes of full-power styling time and it charges in under two hours. All in all, it’s the best travel straightener we’ve tested.

The Glamoriser Blue is a Bluetooth-enabled hair straightener, and the world’s first. Yet even without the smart features, the Glamoriser is an impressive tool. It has a salon-quality look and the results to go with it. The tongs don’t need to pass over the same section of hair multiple times to be effective and the entire motion is smooth, and won’t snag your locks.

The Glamoriser Blue has a wide temperature range: from 80°C to 235°C. You can, however, set the upper and lower limits through the Glamoriser app (free, for iOS and Android) so that the tool never gets hotter than you need it to.

The app also lets you set up a profile for your hair type. You indicate your hair thickness and the types of treatments you’ve had (for example, if your hair is coloured, highlighted or relaxed) and it’ll suggest a straightening temperature.

Best of all, the smart functionality means you need never again worry about whether or not you’ve switched off your straighteners.

The NuMe Megastar is one of the most effective hair straighteners around. It’s a good option if you’re looking for perfectly straight hair. It’ll allow you to personalise your heat setting, with options from 190°F to 450°F (88-232°C), in increments of 20 degrees. It heats up quickly and it’s got some great features, as well, including a large, LED temperature display and floating, tourmaline ceramic plates with genuine give.

Although it has a US plug, it has dual voltage (110-240V), so it can be used internationally with an ordinary adaptor. Our only issues with it relate to the heat it produces: it’s easy to be tempted to put the temperature on max every time for quick results, which could damage your hair. There’s also no lock and it doesn’t come with any heatproof accessories.

At only 20.5cm long, and around 4cm by 4cm at its widest point, this straightener can virtually fit in the palm of your hand. And, as it’s light and comes with a heat-resistant pouch, it’s ideal for travelling.

It’s a cordless straightener and a great alternative to the Dyson Corrale, if budget and weight are a concern.

It charges in three hours and it’ll give you half an hour of use. It has three temperature settings and a lock to keep the plates closed when not in use.

Our only reservation is that it’s not the most powerful straightener around, better for smoothing and styling than creating perfectly straight hair.

Revamp’s Progloss Steamcare straighteners have an understated design with a matt silicone coating, a 3m lead and swivel setting. 

They have a host of features to protect damaged or delicate hair, including a range of temperature options from 150°C-230°C, floating plates, ionising technology and, of course, steam jets.

The straighteners produce only a small amount of steam but it makes a real difference to results, allowing for one-pass styling at a lower temperature.

The GHD Gold Professional Styler is a simple but powerful hair straightener that not only styles your hair quickly, but minimises styling damage.

It has a sensor in each of its plates, part of its “dual-zone technology”, to ensure the temperature is always at a constant 185°C or 365°F – which is why you won’t see any dials or displays on this device. The preset temperature takes out the guesswork involved in identifying the ideal heat setting for your hair.

The GHD Gold only takes 25 seconds to heat up and styles hair quickly and efficiently, making it perfect for the morning routine pre-work or school, for nights out or while travelling (it offers universal voltage).

The price point for the GHD Gold is rather high, but it’s justifiable given that it produces sleek, shiny and lasting results while helping to minimise hair damage. The GHD Gold is an investment in comparison to budget straighteners that may damage your hair in the long run.

If you’re looking for a gentler alternative to straighteners, Revamp’s ceramic straightening brush could be the answer. 

Rather than clamping and flattening hair, a straightening brush will help you to smooth and style. Revamp’s brush has five heat settings, from 130-210°C, so you can find the lowest effective temperature.

It has ceramic bristles and an ionic jet to help to smooth your hair. It’s relatively light (not as light as an ordinary hairbrush but it won’t weigh down your arm like a hairdryer), easy to use and its design means you’re much less likely to get a surprise burn than when using tongs. It has a 3m long cable and swivel setting.

We found it very effective in our tests – although bear in mind that it won’t be the best option for every hair type.

The Elegance 235 from BaByliss is an affordable straightener that produces a great sleek finish that should last throughout the day. It comes in a striking colour, and is compact enough to be a great styling tool for travelling. 

The price saving does come with a few sacrifices. There aren’t as many heat settings as on more expensive straighteners, or a locking mechanism, and if you want to use the device to curl your hair, it isn’t the easiest thing to master. 

However, for the price you’re still getting a good straightener that does what it claims. It should last reasonably well over time, and best of all it doesn’t look or feel cheap, despite heavily undercutting rivals.